UN General Assembly

Publié le September 22, 2008

The United Nations General Assembly will be a period of high-level diplomatic activity for the French Presidency of the Council of the European Union, particularly during the ministerial week which opens the 63rd General Assembly session.
New York, September 22 2008

The President of the European Council, Nicolas Sarkozy, will give the opening address at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on behalf of the European Union on Tuesday 23 September. The European Council President, the High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP), and the Commissioner for External Relations will represent the EU at several meetings to be held in the margins of the UNGA, such as the Middle East Quartet meeting on Friday 26 September. The EU Council President will also address, on behalf of the European Union, the High-level Meeting on Africa’s Development Needs on Monday 22 September.

The ministerial week, which is attended by a number of ministers, is traditionally an opportunity for a large number of meetings to be held between the European Union and Third States.

The 27 EU foreign affairs ministers, the High Representative for CFSP, and the Commissioner for External Relations are thus meeting with the Russian and American foreign affairs ministers on 23 and 24 September respectively. Both meetings will touch on the Middle East (Middle East Peace Process and Iran) and Georgia in particular.

Ministerial meetings are also planned between the EU Troika - comprising the French Presidency of the Council of the European Union, the High Representative for CFSP and the European Commission -, the Czech Republic (next to hold the Presidency of the EU Council) and the following countries: the Cooperation Council of Arab Gulf States (Tuesday, 23 September); Pakistan, Iraq and the Palestinian Authority (Thursday, 25 September); the Organisation of The Islamic Conference, the Rio Group and the Non-Aligned Movement (Friday, 26 September); Bosnia-Herzegovina (Monday, 29 September). Troika meetings are also planned between the EU and the UN Secretary-General (Saturday, 27 September), Japan and China.

On Friday, 26 September, a seminar on cooperation between the UN and the European Union on crisis and management and security will bring together the foreign affairs ministers of the 27 EU Member States, the High Representative for CFSP, the European Commission, the UN Secretary-General and civil society representatives (academics, journalists, members of think tanks).